A Helping Hand
by silverice90
Summary: Sei loses her apartment and thinks she's run out of options, until she sees someone she hasn't seen in a very long time. Slight OOC Yumi. My first fic! Sei/Yumi
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fic, and I really did enjoy writing it. And I thank my friend for forcing me to finish it earlier than expected. Enjoy And I would like to thank my amazing Beta!

Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-Sama Gad Miteru!

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Satou Sei was sitting in her favorite Cafe drinking hot coco and thinking about the events that happened that day. 'I can't believe I lost my apartment.' She thought to herself while taking another sip of her drink. 'What am I going to do now.'

_'I can't go to Youko, she has enough going on with school as it is.. Sachiko would never put me up. Rei has Yoshino to keep her busy, and Shimako doesn t have enough room in her dorm.'_ Sei sighed as she finished her coco. "I think I'm out of options." she mumbled to herself.

Just then someone Sei thought she would never see again, walked into the cafe with a couple of shopping bags in her hands. Yumi...

Sei almost didn't recognize the young girl. Yumi no longer wore her hair in those cute pigtails, she even grew a few inches since Sei last saw her. Sei even had to admit that Yumi was even more beautiful than she was back at school. Deciding to make up for lost time Sei got up from her seat and made her way over to the young girl, of course making sure Yumi didn't notice her. Once She was close enough behind Yumi, she placed her arms around the younger girls waist and whispered in a teasing voice "Hey sweety, can I buy you a drink?"

Trying her hardest not to laugh at the blush Yumi had on her cheeks, Sei released her hold on Yumi to see what she would do next.

Yumi didn't need to think twice before she knew who the person behind her was. There was only one person who would tease her that way.

When Yumi turned around she was face-to-face with grinning Sei.

"Sei-Sama!" Yumi shouted and gave Sei a huge hug. Sei returned the hug without hesitation. "You know you really shouldn't sneek up on people like that." Yumi said with a slight frown.

"You know I only do it with you Yumi-Chan." Sei said with a smirk, "And you know you enjoy it every time." Sei couldn't help but laugh at the blush Yumi wore after her saying this. "Come on Yumi let me buy you a drink and we can catch up on things ok." Sei said to Yumi after she calmed down a bit. "Okay that s sounds good." Yumi said smiling.

"So what have you been up to Yumi?" Sei said when they were both sitting down with their drinks. Sei still couldn't believe that she was able to run into Yumi today of all days.

_'Maria-sama must really be looking out for me.'_ Sei thought to herself looking attentively at the young but beautiful girl in front of her. The former Rose Gigantea starting staring off into space without really noticing, until she heard a sweet voice saying her name over again.

"Sei-sama, Sei-sama!" Sei heard yumi saying to her and decided to tease the girl some more. "Yumi, you keep saying my name over and over again like that, shouldn't I buy you dinner first?" Sei said with a smirk and almost fell out her chair laughing when Yumi's face turned as red as a tomato.

"Sei-Sama!" Yumi said covering her extremely red face in her hands.

"Sorry Yumi, I just couldn't help myself, I haven t seen you in years I was just trying to make up for lost time I guess." Sei said..

"It's okay, but were you even listening to a word I've said?" Yumi said with a slight pout that Sei thought was adorable, but held off on

teasing the young girl.

"Of course I did!" the blonde said grinning. Yumi looked at her disbelievingly with one of her eyebrows quirked up. Sei sighed and said

"Okay, I admit I was listening to you in the beginning, but I guess I just got lost in thought for a little bit. Do you forgive me? She asked with a teasing pout.

"Yes, I forgive you, even after all these years I still can't stay mad at you Sei-Sama." Sei smiled at the thought that she still had that affect on Yumi. Little did the younger girl know she still affected her in the same way as well.

Yumi continued to tell Sei about her life in college, turns out Yumi is majoring in teaching and plans on being a teacher at Lillian. Sei

thought that was really nice that Yumi wanted to teach, and thought that would be the perfect career for her. Yumi loved helping people and she was very good at it.

"So what about you Sei-sama, how s college?" Yumi asked taking a sip of her tea.

"Hmm, college is good, I decided to major in Business, I kind of want to open up my own little shop." Sei told Yumi. She was wondering what Yumi would think about this. Satou Sei actually decided on what to do with her life, she would of laughed at the thought if she didn't see the look of happiness in Yumi's eyes.

"That's great, I'm so happy for you Sei-sama!" Yumi exclaimed as she got up from her seat and gave Sei the biggest hug she'd ever received.

"Thank you Yumi" The former Rose said as she hugged the smaller girl back. "But it might be a little tough for me to focus on my school work for a while.

"Why's that? Yumi asked with concern in her voice. Sei thought about not telling her that she lost her apartment but she didn't want to worry her, and who knows Sei thought 'maybe Yumi can help me look for a new one.'

"Well I lost my apartment this morning, so now I m trying to find a new place to live."

"No way, how did that happen?"

"My landlord wouldn't wait any longer for me to get my next paycheck so I could pay the rent, so he basically kicked me out."

She could see the worried look in Yumi's eyes and reassured her that she would find another place to live, it would probably just take a bit of time.

"How about you come and stay with me Sei-Sama?" Yumi asked her.

"I couldn't do that Yumi, I wouldn't want to be a burden." Sei told her, although secretly she would love to live with Yumi.

"You wouldn't be a burden to me Sei-Sama, when I graduated from Lillian my parents helped me find an apartment to live in while I m going to college, it has two bedrooms. Plus I wouldn't mind having you as a roommate." She said smiling at Sei.

Sei couldn't help but smile at the idea that Yumi wanted to have her as a roommate. "Thank you Yumi, I would love to have you as a roommate too. Sei and Yumi continued to talk and decided to go get Sei's things to move into her new home.

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A/N: YES! I finished the first chapter finally, I hoped you guys enjoyed it. The next chapter should be up soon. Read and Review Plz! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys, college really is a pain. But here's the second chapter to A Helping Hand. I hope you enjoy it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-Sama!**

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Sei and Yumi finished bringing in the last of Sei's things and set them in her new room. After they had everything set up and some-what organized Yumi decided to give Sei the grand tour of the apartment. They walked around the corner from Sei's room and Yumi opened the door.

"This is my room Sei-sama." Yumi said smiling as she led Sei into the room. Sei couldn't help but think that Yumi's room had a certain homey feel to it. The walls were painted in a light blue color; everything was arranged neatly from her desk in one corner of the room to her dresser which was on the adjacent side close to the closet. On the other side of the she could see that Yumi had a pretty good full-sized bed, same as the one in her room.

Sei continued to look around the young girls' room, as Yumi went to sit down on her bed.

"You have a pretty cool room Yumi; I can see myself sleeping in here for a while, with you in here with me of course. Sei flirted with Yumi trying to make her a little flustered. Yumi just smiled innocently and looked at Sei.

"I bet you would Sei-Sama."

"Yumi, please there's no reason for you to call me Sei-Sama anymore; for one we're not at school anymore, and secondly it makes feel a little old. Sei said looking at Yumi with a pout.

"Well, you know you are like what two years older than me… that is kind of old…" Yumi said trying her hardest not to laugh at Sei, who looked like she was about to cry at Yumi's remark.

"That's not right Yumi." Sei said crossing her arms trying to look as upset as possible at the girl sitting down in front of her. Feeling just a little bad for what she said, Yumi stood up and walked over to where Sei was standing and gave her a big hug.

"I'm sorry Sei-Sama, I just couldn't resist. I hardly ever get the upper hand against you so I had to at least try." Yumi said looking up at Sei, both still engrossed in their hug. Sei needing to think of way to get back at the young girl looked down at her and grinned, "It's okay Yumi, at least it gave you a reason to hug me so tightly like this. " Sei whispered huskily in Yumi's ear while wrapping her arms around her.

Yumi blushed at Sei's choice of words, and then she noticed how close they really were, and pushed herself off of Sei scratching her head timidly.

"Sei-sama, why do you always make me blush so much, especially after I finally was able to win one over you. "

"Oh Yumi, you'll never be able to win one over me for very long; you should know that by now." Sei grinned.

"Trust me I will win one day." Yumi said looking very determined and walked out of the room. Sei followed Yumi out of the room while silently chuckling to herself. 'It's going to be a lot of fun living with you isn't Yumi.' The blonde thought to herself. When she reached the living room she saw that the younger girl was in the kitchen rummaging through her fridge.

"What are you doing, Yumi?" Sei said leaning against the doorway.

"I'm just looking for something that I can make for dinner tonight." Yumi said as she switched from the fridge to her cabinets.

The former rose Gigantea watched as the former Chinensis diligently worked to find something to cook for supper. Then an idea popped into her devious little head_. _

'_Maybe I could cook dinner for Yumi and me tonight, as a sign of gratitude. Then maybe later tonight she can show me a bit of gratitude.' _

Sei laughed at herself as quietly as she could, without directing too much attention to herself.

'_Even if Yumi has showed a bit of boldness in her actions lately I can't expect her to give in just like that. I'll wait as long as I have to.' _

"Hey Yumi, How about I cook dinner for us tonight." Sei asked as she went over to the counter next to Yumi. The younger of the two looked up a bit stunned.

"I couldn't let you do that Sei-Sama you're my guest, you shouldn't have to cook for me." Yumi explained. She was still surprised that Sei would offer to cook dinner for her, without some type of ulterior motive.

Sei wasn't going to give up that quickly though. "Guest? I though you said I could live here with you Yumi, please let me cook just one dinner for you. It would help me not to think that I'm being a burden to you." Sei said with a slight pout hoping that Yumi would give in and let her do this one thing.

Yumi saw Sei pout just a little bit and she felt herself melt just a little bit. 'How can she have this much control over me this quickly. I last time I felt this way was when we were still in school. If she was going to let Sei help out around here more, then she was going to need a little more help understanding why Sei wasn't able to stay in her old apartment. She remembered Sei said it was because her landlord wouldn't wait for her check, but Yumi believed there was more to the story then what Sei told her.

"Okay Sei-sama, I'll let you cook, but on one condition." Yumi said still locking her eyes with Sei's.

"Okay and what's that, Yumi?" Sei asked warily, she was wondering what Yumi's condition would be so she just waited for Yumi to explain what she wanted.

"Well, Sei-Sama, there's been something on my mind since we left the café earlier and I wondering if you would tell my why you really lost your apartment?" Yumi said as her eyes were wondering around her kitchen trying not to look at Sei directly.

Sei was shocked at what Yumi had asked her. She never thought that Yumi could see past her excuse at the café, but when she began to think about it more, Sei wasn't really surprised; Yumi was a smart girl. Sei decided since she was going to be living here she might as well come clean about what really happened.

"Alright Yumi, I'll tell you what happened. Can we go sit in the living room though; my legs are starting to get tired." Yumi nodded and led them to the couch. When they were sitting down, Sei was trying to get a comfortable. She was sitting towards Yumi with her left leg tucked underneath her and her right leg hanging off the edge with her foot touching the floor.

"So first off, not everything I said was a lie, the part about my landlord not waiting for my next payment was true, there's just more to the story." Sei said looking at Yumi.

"This past year, I haven't really been in Tokyo much. I needed some extra money to pay for school, so my dad got me a job with a friend of his in Kyoto. Luckily for me I was able to finish my studies online while I was there, so I didn't miss out on much. Since I wasn't going to stay there forever, I was able to work out a deal with my landlord. I was to send him a check for every month for rent. Everything was fine until this month when I came back to town. I went back to my apartment and My landlord told me that he had to give my apartment away because he needed to charge more for rent, and I couldn't pay the amount he wanted, he kicked me out. "

Sei finished telling Yumi what happened only to see that the girl was just staring at her wide-eyed. "Yumi, are you okay?" Sei asked. Then Yumi pulled Sei into the biggest bear hug Sei ever had.

"Sei-Sama I am so sorry. Your landlord is a jerk." Yumi said with her face buried in the crook of Sei's neck. Sei was shocked at first, but when her brain processed what Yumi had just said, she gave in and laughed so much that she had little tears coming out of her eyes.

"Sei-Sama, what's wrong, what's so funny?" Yumi said lifting herself off of Sei, looking at her with disbelief.

Sei who was starting to calm down a little bit, was wiping her eyes, and was trying to steady her breathing before she trusted herself to talk back to Yumi.

"Everything is fine Yumi I promise, I just didn't expect that kind of response from you is all, it caught be by surprise. " The older woman said smiling at her friend. "And you're right my landlord is a jerk, but it all worked out for the best, I get to live with you for a while after all." Yumi smiled at Sei's statement.

"Yeah you're right I guess, it all worked out in the end." Yumi said with a smile spread across her lips.

"So is it okay if I go make dinner now. I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty hungry." Sei said while patting her stomach. Yumi just laughed at her, and told her to go cook dinner before she decided to order out for pizza.

The blonde hurried off into the kitchen and looked for things she could cook with. She found some rice, vegetables, and noodles, so she decided to make some Yakisoba and white rice.

After she finished cooking, she called Yumi over to eat. "Is there anything I can do to help Sei-Sama?" Yumi asked since all had been doing was sitting in the living watching television.

"Sure you can set the table, while I get everything here situated." Sei said with her back towards the young woman, pouring rice into bowls. When yumi had the table set, Sei brought the food over and put it all in place. Then her and Yumi sat down and got ready to eat.

"Wow Sei-Sama everything looks great!" Yumi exclaimed looking at the food Sei prepared.

"Thank you Yumi, it was nothing really." Sei said, she was almost embarrassed… Almost. "Well let's eat shall we." She smiled at Yumi.

"Itadakimasu!" They both said and then dug into their food. "How do you like it Yumi?" Sei asked curiously. She didn't use to cook much until she moved to Kyoto; she really hoped Yumi liked it.

"It's very good Sei-Sama, I didn't know you cook so well." Yumi said smiling at her roommate.

"Ha-ha Yeah well I kind of had to learn on my own when I was in Kyoto; I didn't have cafeteria food, or home-made bento boxes. The former rose said laughing. The rest of their meal was eaten in comfortable silence between the two. When they finished eating, they cleaned up their dishes and went to watch a little bit of TV in the living room. They watched re-runs of Ninja Warrior for about an hour until Sei saw Yumi take a deep yawn.

"Do you want to go to bed now Yumi it's getting pretty late?" Sei asked the sleepy brunette beside her.

"Yeah, I guess we should I've been up for a while. I'm sorry Sei-sama, I wanted to stay up with you some more. "

Sei smiled at yumi and said to her "It's okay really Yumi, besides I'm getting a little tired too. Sei stretched to prove her point.

Sei and Yumi said goodnight to each other and went to their respected bedrooms. Once in bed Sei thought about the day's events and smiled brightly. She drifted into a sound sleep, she didn't really notice that there was a thunderstorm outside until she heard her door creak open slightly. Sei looked up to see that Yumi was peaking through just a little bit.

"Yumi what's wrong?" Sei said sleepily, while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you. I was just wondering if I could sleep in here with you. I hate thunder." Sei nodded her head and scooted over in her bed to make room for Yumi. When Yumi was comfortable in Sei's bed, there was a loud roar of thunder and yumi instantly clung to the warm body next to hers. Sei in turn wrapped her arms around Yumi's waist and tried to comfort her as much as possible.

They both slept soundly together for the rest of the night.

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**A/N: There it Folks. I finally finished the second chapter! I am very happy about it too. I know the ending was a little crappy, but I tried haha. I hope I was able to give you guys what you wanted for Sei's reasoning. Thank you for waiting patiently. I'm still debating whether I should write another chapter or not. Don't forget R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Helping Hand Chapter 3**

**A/N: The long awaited chapter 3! College has kept me extremely busy, but I found time to finish this chapter :D. I hope you guys enjoy it :). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-Sama Ga Miteru **

Sei woke up the next morning due to the rays of light coming in through her window. She tried to stretch her limbs, but she didn't get very far when she felt something weighing her down. She turned to her right, looked down and saw Yumi sleeping peacefully next to her, with her head lying slightly on the blonde's shoulder. The way the light was shining in through the window, she would have thought that Yumi looked like an angel.

The former Rose Gigantea gently moved herself so that Yumi's head was now resting on her pillow, without waking the younger girl. The mischievous blonde then had a thought on how to wake her little sleeping beauty, and laid back on her bed, pretending to be asleep.

Yumi woke up feeling something shifting next to her. She looked over and saw that Sei shifting back and forth, Yumi was about to ask her if she was alright, when she heard Sei mumbling something in her sleep.

"Yumi… not right now, it's too early."

Yumi froze from her spot on the bed and stared at the blonde sleeping next to her with a blush creeping on her face. 'What is Sei dreaming about?' Yumi thought mentally, not wanting to disturb her, the brunette tried to slide out of bed, but was stopped when an arm grabbed her and pulled her back to the bed.

Yumi looked down to see Sei snuggling between her breasts. "Sei!" Yumi screamed trying to move away, but Sei had her arms around her waist holding her still. When the brunette finally stopped squirming around, she could hear chuckling. The former rose looked down again, this time seeing the sly grin she has seen many times before.

"Gotcha Yumi." Sei said while grinning devilishly. Yumi's face flushed deep red. She wanted to scream at Sei for tricking her like that, but instead of doing the obvious Yumi decided to try something different. When she calmed herself down, the brunette moved Sei from on top of her, and silently walked out of the room. _'Let's see what she thinks of this'_ Yumi smiled to herself. The younger girl had never given the older of the two the silent treatment before, and she eager to see how it would work.

Sei was a little confused by Yumi's choice of action. _'She didn't even yell at me, like she usually does.'_ The blonde thought. "Is she really that mad at me this time?" She whispered to the empty room. Getting up from the bed, Sei made her way out of the room, to see where her friend had gone. She saw that Yumi was in the kitchen going through the fridge and cabinets.

"Yumi..." The former rose Gigantea said standing next to the counter, watching as the younger girl continued to work in front of her. 'I really messed up this time.' Sei thought. 'I should do something to make it up to her, but what? I got it!' Sei walked over to Yumi and took the food Yumi got from the fridge out of her hands. "I'm sorry if I made you mad Yumi, how about I cook us breakfast this morning, will that make up for it?" Sei said apologetically.

Yumi wanted to tell her that she wasn't that upset when she saw the sad look on Sei's face, but she was having a little too much fun at the moment. Instead, she walked out of the kitchen and sat down in the living room and pretended to read her book.

Sei took that as a good sign, and turned her attention to the task at hand. She didn't know what she was going to cook; she only knew how to make one kind of decent breakfast, so she decided to go with what she knew. She went over to the fridge and grabbed some eggs, and bacon. Yumi already had bread out on the counter, so Sei didn't have to look very hard for it. She turned out the stove and proceeded to cook their breakfast.

Yumi was about halfway through her book, when she smelled something good from the kitchen. She put her book down on the table and walked towards the source. When she walked in, she saw something she didn't expect to see. The food that her roommate and friend made was spread on the table, and it looked delicious. Yumi didn't know that Sei could cook, let alone make it look edible.

"Well… am I forgiven?" Sei asked hopefully, almost hopping up and down with anticipation. The brunette looked at her friend, trying to hold back the laughter that she wanted to release. "Yes Sei, you're forgiven. " Yumi smiled at her roommate and sat down in front of her plate. Sei grinned and sat down in the chair next to Yumi's, and both started to eat their food.

"Wow." Yumi said when she took her first bite. "This is really good Sei, I didn't know you cook like this." She teased the blonde.

"Yeah I had to learn a few new things when I was gone; one was how to cook decent meals." Sei smiled at her friend. "Is it really that good?" She asked tilting her head to the side.

"It's really good Sei, I mean it. Maybe I should give you the silent treatment more often, if I'm going to get meals like this." Yumi laughed.

"Maybe… wait you wasn't really mad me were you?!" Sei accused pointing at the Yumi.

"No, I wasn't, I was going to tell you before you started cooking, but I figured if you really wanted to cook for me, then I wouldn't stop you. " Yumi said innocently. "I'm sorry for tricking you like that Sei."

"Humph, maybe I should give you the silent treatment for making me slave over a hot stove like that." The blonde suggested folding her arms across her chest. She waited for some kind of reaction from the younger woman.

"But I said that I was sorry, I really didn't want to trick you like that, I just thought it would be funny at the time." Yumi said trying to get Sei to not give her the silent treatment. "I don't know…" Sei started, but was cut off. "I'll do anything you want to make it up to you." Yumi said leaning closer to the blonde.

Sei smirked at that comment. "Anything?" Sei asked thinking about what she could have her friend do to make up for teasing her earlier.

Yumi didn't like the look Sei had on her face; she was starting to have second thoughts on what she said about what she said. "Well, maybe not everything Sei." Yumi said sitting back down in her chair.

"Too late for that now Yumi, I already know what I want. " The former rose Gigantea said smiling at the former rose Chinensis. "W-What is that?" Yumi asked shakily.

"I want you go out with me on a date tonight." Sei smiled brightly.

"What, that's it?" Yumi asked with relief in her voice. Sei smiled more at her. "Well, if you want more I could always ask for a little more. "NO that's okay; I'll go on a date with you tonight." The brunette said waving her hands frantically.

"Great then it's settled, tonight we'll have the night for ourselves." The blonde grinned.

"Hai." Yumi agreed.

**A/N: There's the third chapter guys and girls. I hope you all enjoyed it. Sorry for the cliff hanger, I've started chapter four. It might take me some time to finish it; I'm not sure yet even though it's the holidays. I have a lot of little kids here, and I don't feel comfortable writing with them around me haha. **

**I wonder what will happen on their date… you'll have to wait and see. :D remember R&R. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A Helping Hand Chapter 4**

**A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone, I had a lot of family issues to work through this last month, but here's the fourth chapter for you reading enjoyment. I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last few chapters, and added the story to their alerts and favorites, it is much appreciated. Now, on to the date :). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maria Sama Ga Miteru. Nor do I own the song 6 months that belongs to Hey Monday. **

Later that night, after Yumi tried to get information out of Sei about their date that she agreed to go on, but was unsuccessful in doing so. She finished getting dressed, which consisted of a pair of black form fitting jeans, a blue polo shirt, and a jean jacket. She walked out into the living room to see Sei standing at the counter making sure she had everything for the night. Yumi was relieved to see that Sei was dressing casual too, in her jeans and t-shirt, and leather jacket. Sei turned around and saw Yumi standing in the doorway.

"Hey, you look great." Sei said smiling at her friend and roommate.

"Thanks." Yumi said, she could feel a slight blush coming to her cheeks. _'Why did I just blush a little when Sei complimented me?' _She was glad when Sei didn't see her blush. Yumi put the thought aside for now. "You look great too." The brunette said walking over to the counter.

"Thank you, so are you ready to go." Sei said grabbing her car keys. "You're going to drive?" Yumi asked. She still got shaken up whenever Sei and driving was in the same sentence. Sei laughed when she saw the horrified look on the young girls face.

"Don't worry, I promise not to drive like a crazed maniac."

Yumi reluctantly agreed and the two left the house. Once they were in the car, Yumi strapped her seat belt on really securely, just to be safe. Sei saw this and laughed. "You still don't trust me driving do you?"

"It's not that, I just want to be safe, there are other crazy drivers out there besides you, you know." Yumi said looking at straight ahead.

"Yeah, sure." Sei grinned and started the car.

The drive was surprisingly not as bad as Yumi thought it would be. Sei parked her car along the curb of the street, and started to undo her seat belt. "Here we are." The blonde smiled at the girl sitting next to her. Yumi looked outside her window and saw that they were downtown at the plaza area. "Where are we going that's here?" Yumi asked turning back to Sei.

"You'll see it's a surprise." The older girl said winking at her friend. "Come on." She said and stepped out of the car. Yumi followed Sei out of the car and walked beside her to their surprise destination. They have been walking for about five minutes, when Yumi decided to break the silence.

"Can you at least give me a hint as to where we're going?" The brunette asked, really wanting to know where they were going.

"No" Sei said chuckling.

"Yeah I know, because it's a surprise. What if I don't like surprises?" Yumi said looking at Sei annoyingly.

"Then you, my dear Yumi would be lying." Sei said, laughing at the annoyed look on her friends face. She turned her attention back to where she was walking. _'Yumi really is cute when she's annoyed.'_ The blonde thought to herself.

'_Don't worry Yumi; you don't have to be upset anymore.' _Sei stopped walking and looked at Yumi again.

"Why did you stop?" Yumi asked looking at Sei.

"Because, we're here." The blonde said nodding towards the building next to them. Yumi looked over and saw that they were standing in front of a karaoke bar. Yumi's eyes went wide and she looked back towards Sei.

"We're going to a karaoke bar?"

"Mm Hm." Sei said nodding her said. "Are you okay with that, I thought it would be fun for us to do." Sei said looking at Yumi, hoping that the younger girl would think so too.

"It is a good idea really, it's just that… I'm not really that great of a singer and I'm afraid I might embarrass myself." Yumi said hanging her head down. Sei saw how nervous Yumi was and didn't want to see her like that. Sei placed her hand on Yumi's chin and lifted her head so that she was looking directly into her eyes.

"Listen Yumi, you don't have to worry about being embarrassed alright, I think you'll do great no matter how bad you sing, okay." Sei said smiling at the brunette sweetly. Yumi felt her cheeks warm up as she gazed into Sei's enticing gray eyes. _'Sei has beautiful eyes.' _She could feel her heart beat faster at the thought. '_Why am I feeling this way, first at the apartment, and now this? Could I possibly have feelings for Sei?' _Pushing the thought aside for now, Yumi turned her attention back to her friend.

"Thank you Sei for believing in my singing ability." Yumi said with a soft laugh.

"No problem, come on let's go inside and get our date started." Sei said taking Yumi's hand and going inside the bar. Once they were inside, they went to their booth that Sei had reserved earlier that day. Yumi looked through the list of songs while her friend went to get them some drinks. A few minutes later the former Rose Gigantea came back with a couple of glasses in her hand.

"Did you find anything good?" The blonde said, sitting down on the couch.

"I think so; there are a couple of good songs in here that I wanted to try out." Yumi said still searching though the machine. "Do you want to take a look?" She turned around and asked.

"I will in a minute, here you go I got you a soda, since you don't like alcohol very much." Sei said handing Yumi her glass. "Thank you." The younger girl said and turned back to pick the song she was going to sing.

"Okay, I got my song." Yumi said smiling at the older woman.

"Great, let's hear it." Sei said sitting up in her chair so that she was giving Yumi her full attention. She watched the brunette stand on the small stage that was in front of their room. Sei could tell that Yumi was still a little nervous about singing so she gave her a smile of encouragement "You can do it Yumi, you don't have to be nervous."

Yumi took in Sei's words and took a deep breath, and stepped up to the mic. Soft acoustic music filled the room and Yumi started to sing.

_You're the direction I follow to get home  
When I feel like I can't go on, you tell me to go  
And it's like I can't feel a thing without you around  
And don't mind me if I get weak in the knees  
'cause you have that effect on me, you do_

Everything you say  
Every time we kiss, I can't think straight  
But I'm okay  
And I can't think of anybody else  
Who I hate to miss as much as I hate missing you

Months going strong now, and no goodbye  
Unconditional, unoriginal  
Always by my side  
Meant to be together  
Meant for no one but each other  
You love me, I love you harder so  


Feeling enough confidence, Yumi made her way off the small stage, and over to where Sei was sitting. She sat down on the table in front of the couch, where the blonde was occupying. _  
_

_Everything you say  
Every time we kiss, I can't think straight  
But I'm okay  
And I can't think of anybody else  
Who I hate to miss as much as I hate missing you_

So please, give me your hand  
So please, give me a lesson on how to steal, steal a heart  
As fast as you stole mine, as you stole mine

Oh and everything you say  
Every time we kiss, I can't think straight  
But I'm okay  
And I can't think of anybody else  
Who I hate to miss as much as I hate missing you

So please, give me your hand  
So please, just take my hand.

"Wow." Was all that could come out of Sei's mouth; she was in awe at how beautiful Yumi's voice was. Sei had no idea Yumi was such a good singer; she knew she was nervous about it at first, but near the end, she built up a lot of confidence. Sei also felt something new when Yumi was singing to her. She felt like her heart was beating twice as fast as it should be. She also felt her face heat up just enough for her to notice. Back at Lillian Sei had a crush on the younger girl, but just passed it off slightly as a schoolgirl crush, but now it's like she's feeling something much stronger for Yumi. It felt right.

"Is that a good wow, or a bad wow?" Yumi asked, breaking Sei's trance.

"That was definitely a good wow. I thought you said you weren't a great singer? To me, you were amazing." Sei smiled at Yumi.

"You really think so?" Yumi asked her face flushed from Sei's compliment. Yumi looked up at Sei and realized that their faces were mere inches from each other. Looking into Sei's eyes, the brunette felt like there was a magnet between them and was keeping her from pulling away. She liked that feeling.

"I do." Sei whispered; she could also feel like something was drawing them closer together. It wasn't a bad feeling, but before either of could realize it, they were leaning closer to one another. Both girls felt a shock when their lips slightly brushed against each others.

Just when their lips were about to touch for an actual kiss, both girls jumped away when they heard a loud crash. Sei turned around quickly to see that the waitress had fallen and spilled drinks all over the carpet.

"Gomenasai, I was just checking to see if you wanted a refill on your drinks." The waitress said frantically.

"It's okay really; I think we're about done for tonight anyway. Thank you though." Sei said flashing one of her charming smiles. The waitress nodded her head and picked up her mess and rushed out of the room the two girls were occupying.

"Well… That was… Um… Interesting." Sei chuckled rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah, it was." Yumi said looking down at her hands. Both girls sat in silence for a few minutes thinking about what had just happened between them.

"_I almost kissed Sei."_ Yumi kept saying in her mind over and over again. _"Do I want to kiss Sei? I've never felt like this about anyone before. When our lips brushed it did feel really good."_ The brunette thought placing her fingers across her lips. She looked up at Sei and saw that the blonde was deep in her own thoughts.

"_I almost Kissed Yumi, maybe it wasn't just a schoolgirl crush after all." _Sei thought replaying the events that just happened. She looked up and saw that Yumi was looking at her.

"So, do you want to get going now, it's getting pretty late." Sei suggested trying not to seem embarrassed.

"Yeah sure, it is getting late anyway." Yumi agreed and they both left the bar. When they were walking to the car, Sei noticed that Yumi was rubbing her arms a little bit. "Are you cold?" Sei asked. "Just a little, I'll be fine though." Yumi said reassuringly.

Even though, Yumi said that she was fine, Sei took off her jacket and wrapped it around Yumi's shoulders to keep her warm. Yumi looked over to Sei and smiled. "Thanks Sei."

"No problem." Sei smiled back and the two continued walking to the car.

Once they made it to the car, Yumi tried to give Sei her coat back. "No keep it, it's no problem." Sei said walking over to the driver's door so that the brunette couldn't give her jacket back. "Okay, if you're sure." Yumi said opening the door to get in.

The drive back was fairly silent, not really awkward silence but more of a comfortable silence. Once they got back to the house, sei turned off the car, and rested her arms against the steering wheel and looked at Yumi. "Home, sweet home. " She said laughing a little. Yumi joined in with the laughter.

"I had a great time tonight Sei, thank you for taking me out." Yumi said smiling at her friend.

"I had a great time too, it was probably the most fun I've had in a long time." Sei said with her usual grin.

"Maybe we should go inside now." The former rose said.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea."

Both girls got out of the car, and made their way up to the apartment. The whole time they were walking, the only thing that kept running through Yumi's head was her and Sei's 'almost kiss.' _"Why can't I stop thinking about that? It's not like we actually kissed each other. Although it would be nice if we did." _ Yumi kept thinking about it until she noticed they were standing in front of the door.

"Do you have the key Yumi; I left mine inside on accident." Sei chuckled a little bit.

"Yeah I have mine." Yumi said taking out her key and putting it into the keyhole unlocking the door. Before opening it, the younger woman turned around and looked at Sei.

"Before we go inside, there's something I want to do." Yumi said looking at her friend and roommate in the eyes. Before Sei could respond she felt Yumi pull her in and kissed her. Sei was surprised at first, but recovered. She was about to kiss Yumi back when she felt the younger woman pull away.

"I wanted to do that since we left the karaoke bar." Yumi admitted turning around to open the door, but was stopped when Sei turned her around and kissed her with the same, if not more passion then the previous kiss. Sei pulled away and looked at the brunette.

"I wanted to do that too." She said smiling at Yumi who looked really dazed after their kiss. "Yumi, we need to go inside now." The younger girl broke out of her trance when she heard Sei say that they needed to go inside.

"Y-yeah we do." Yumi stammered and turned around to open the door. Once they were inside their warm apartment, the brunette walks over to the counter and puts her things down. She turned back around and smiled at Sei "I think I'm going to go to bed now." Yumi said, giving Sei a hug and one last kiss, before going to her room. "Goodnight Sei."

"Night, Yumi." Sei said with a smile on her face, then going to her own respectable bedroom. Once she was inside her room, she fell onto her bed and shut her eyes, thinking about her date with Yumi. She let the thoughts of that night guide her to sleep. She couldn't wait to see Yumi again in the morning.

**A/N: Yay another chapter done! This is my longest chapter so far, I'm surprised at myself. I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter will take a little longer to write this time, with college and all in the way. Tell me what you think about the date R&R please!! Thank you!!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A Helping Hand Chapter 5**

**A/N: Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for…. CHAPTER 5! I'm sorry it took so long to get done, school life took over, then my computer broke, then I lost internet which forced.. I mean allowed me to go to the library :). I hope you all enjoy. Sorry for the mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-sama or its characters. **

* * *

Yumi woke up to her alarm ringing; turning to shut if off she noticed that it was 8 in the morning. After shutting off her annoying clock she turned her head again this time staring at the ceiling. The brunette couldn't help but smile as thought from the night before circling around in her head.

'_I kissed Sei, I really kissed her.' _Yumi thought to herself. Pulling the blanket over her head Yumi burrowed in her bed as she thought of the kiss her and her blonde friend shared. _'I don't know what came over me; it was like I was in some kind of trance.' _

Yumi brought two of her delicate fingers up to touch the lips that her friend had also touched a few hours earlier. The brunette brightly smiled to herself at the thought, but that smile soon vanished at an unwelcomed thought.

The former Rose Chinensis quickly rose from under her covers.

'_Did Sei like the kiss as much as I did? What if doesn't feel the same way about me as I do her?'_ Millions of thoughts were going through the young girls mind. Deciding to push away all those negative thoughts for the time being Yumi got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom for a quick shower.

~O~O~

Meanwhile in the room down the hall, a certain blonde was waking up from her well rested sleep. She yawned and stretched out her whole body, before looking at her phone to see what time it was. "8:30 a.m. Why am I up so early?" Sei mumbled to herself.

Falling back into bed the blonde yawned softly "I wonder if Yumi is awake yet." Sei's eyes lifted quickly when said Yumi's name out loud.

"Yumi…" She said again smiling as her mind floating back to their date the previous night. _'Last night was really fun, watching Yumi sing was entertaining as well.'_ Sei thought, folding her arms behind her head. The former Rose stared at her ceiling remembering everything that had happened on her and Yumi's date. When her mind came to the end of the night, she remembered the kiss that they shared and Sei could feel the massive grin on her face.

'_I can't believe Yumi really kissed me last night." _It all felt like a dream to Sei, she really likes Yumi, but she doesn't want to push the younger girl into anything, she isn't ready for.

"_What should I do? Should I ask Yumi about the kiss, or should I just wait for her to ask me about it? _The blonde thought to herself. All of the thoughts inside the Sei's head caused her to grab the pillow from behind her head and bury her face in it.

In the middle of her panic attack, she heard a soft grumbling sound followed by a tinge in her stomach. "Maybe I should worry about eating first." Sei said before getting out of bed and heading to the kitchen.

Sei heard the shower running when she left her room, and was glad to know that Yumi was awake. When she got to the kitchen she opened the fridge and thought of what she could make for breakfast. "Eggs and bacon sound good." Sei said getting stuff out and starting breakfast for her and Yumi.

~O~O~

When Yumi got out of the shower, she smelled something amazing coming from the kitchen, she went out to the kitchen and saw Sei plating food on the table. "That smells good, Sei. What did you make?" Yumi asked standing in the doorway. Sei turned around and stood with her mouth hung opened a little bit. Yumi was standing in the doorway wearing nothing but her towel and there were still water droplets on her upper chest.

"_Is she trying to torture me?"_

Sei thought. She regained her composure, and cleared her throat to talk. "Thanks, I made bacon and eggs, it's not great, but its food. Sei said smiling. "Soo... Are you trying to tell me you want me to help you get dressed?" Sei smirked looking at Yumi's attire.

Yumi looked down, wondering what Sei was talking about, and she realized that she was still wearing her towel. Ah! Yumi yelled as she held the towel closer to her body. "I'll be back." Yumi ran to her room to put on some less revealing clothes.

Sei chuckled as she saw Yumi running to her room, when she heard the door close she stumbled back against the wall, closed her eyes and took deep breathes to try and keep her cool. _"Pull yourself together Sei."_ The blonde kept repeating in her head. After a couple more deep breathes Sei went back to setting the table for breakfast. Just when she was putting the food down, her eyes glanced up to see Yumi coming back in, fully clothed this time.

"Sorry about earlier Sei." Yumi said with a sad look on her face. Sei walked over and rubbed Yumi's back gently.

"Don't worry about it so much Yumi, we are roommates after all, we're bound to see each other unexposed at some point, not that it wasn't a wonderful sight, I enjoyed it very much. Sei smirked at the younger girl.

Yumi blushed just as hard as she did earlier before running to get clothes. Taking control of the situation Yumi shoved Sei's arm "You're such a perv Sei!" The former Rose said looking Sei right In the eye. "It's not my fault; you just happen to bring it out in me is all." The blonde said smiling brightly.

"Is that so?" Yumi asked with an eyebrow raised. "Of course!" Sei grinned. "But let's discuss this later, breakfast is getting cold.

"Wow first dinner, not breakfast. Who knew you were such a chef Sei." Yumi said with a slight chuckle. "Hey I might as well use what I learned when I was gone, and who better else to cook for than my wonderful friend right." Sei said laughing a little.

The two ate together, Yumi commenting on how good Sei's food was, even if it was just simple bacon and eggs. After they finished Yumi offered to do the dishes while Sei went to find something on T.V. While Yumi was washing dishes her mind started to wander to earlier that morning when she was thinking about Sei and their kiss the night before. _"Should I bring it up to Sei or Should I just see if she wants to bring it up?"_

The thought raced through Yumi's mind excessively, when she was done cleaning up she stood in the doorway into the living room where Sei was channel surfing. The more she looked at the blonde, the more she thought about the other night, until something unthinkable happened. "I want to talk about last night!" Yumi said immediately covering her mouth.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." The brunette said in shock.

"No, its okay, I've been trying to find some way to bring that up to. Sei said rubbing the back of her head. Just when Yumi was about to speak again, the phone rang. Sei got up from the couch to pick up to answer the phone. "Hello? Yeah she's here one minute." Sei handed the phone to Yumi before sitting back down on the couch.

"Hello." Yumi said when she got the phone. "Hey, how are you? I'm good. No I'm not busy today. Sure, Bye." Yumi hung up the phone. "Sorry about that, Yoshino wants me to meet up with her today, no more like right now.

Sei smiled at the younger girl. "That's okay, I have a few things I need to do today as well. How about tonight we order a pizza and we can talk."

"Sounds good to me." Yumi smiled back. "I guess I'll see you later then. Yumi said grabbing her bag to go meet her best friend.

"I'll be here." The blonde said as her friend shut the door.

When Sei heard the door shut, she grabbed the phone and frantically dialed a number.

"_Hello?"_

"I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!" Sei practically yelled through the phone.

"_Nice to talk to you too Sei, good to know you can still yell." The voice on the other end said._

"Sorry, can I come by now, I need to talk to you about something.

"_Yeah, sure." _

"Arigatou, I'll be by in a bit. Bye." Sei hung up the phone and got ready to leave. _'I hope she can help me with this.'_ Sei thought shutting the door.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if the ending seemed a little rushed. I was literally rushing to get it done, probably shouldn't of done that. Can anyone guess who the mysterious person Sei is going to meet is? :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A Helping Hand Chapter 6**

**A/N: YAY another chapter! I apologize for the long wait, but hopefully this chapter can make up for it =). Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-sama or its characters. **

Yumi decided to walk to Yoshino's since she lived about fifteen minutes away, and she thought that walking would give her a chance to think about things with Sei. _'I wonder if Yoshino can help me with this.' _Yumi thought about all that has happen over the last few days, and before she knew it she was in front of her friends' house. Yumi was about to knock on the door when it opened very quickly. Yumi look completely shocked when her best friend Yoshino yanked her inside.

"It's about time you got here!" Yoshino said almost like she was freaking out.

"What do you mean it only took me ten minutes to get over here." Yumi said looking at the time on her cell phone.

"Exactly ten minutes was way too long for you to get here." Yoshino said crossing her arms over her chest.

Yumi was really confused, but she thought it was better to just let her friend rant a little. "Okay Yoshino, sorry it took me so long to get here, so what did you want to talk to me about?" Yumi asked sitting down on the couch looking up at her friend. The brunette felt like she was a child in trouble with her mom, with the way Yoshino was staring at her.

"Right, so why didn't you tell me you are dating Satou Sei?" Yoshino said looking upset and a little hurt. Yumi stared at her best friend in shock; she didn't know what to say. Her and Sei weren't dating, so why did Yoshino say that they were? So many thoughts were going through Yumi's head at that time. All she could manage was a few incoherent words.

"Wha- who told, who told you I was dating Sei?" Yumi said half screaming.

Yoshino was about to speak when she was interrupted by another voice in the house.

"Sorry Yumi, I told her not to hound you about this, and you'd tell her when you were ready, but she doesn't listen to me." Yumi looked up to see Rei walking into the room, and sat down at the computer chair.

"Why should I have listened? I should have been informed, she's my best friend." Yoshino said now getting a little irritated at her girlfriend.

"All I'm saying is that you should give Yumi time before you start asking her questions." Rei said calmly.

"Guy's I'm still here, you know." Yumi said waving her hand slightly. "And who told you that Sei and I are dating, Yoshino?" The brunette asked again.

"A coworker of mine said that she saw you the other night walking with a tall blonde man and that you two looked pretty cozy walking next to each so closely. Since I know that you don't know any men besides Yuuki and his friends, and there's no chance that you would be with any of them. So I wracked my brain to try and think of anyone else you would be seeing then I put two and two together, and Sei came to mind since she's the only tall blonde, besides Rei of course, and I know you wouldn't be with her. "Yoshino said taking a deep breath. "And then I remembered how friendly you two were in school, and I know you had a little crush on her, so I just figured you two were dating, and you didn't tell me, so am I right?" Yoshino asked, now sitting down next to Yumi.

Yumi was in shock at Yoshino's little rant, she didn't even know how to answer this. "No… Yes… Not really, I don't know." Yumi stammered, and put her face in her hands.

Yoshino turned and looked at Rei, who nodded and left the room for the two girls to talk. "Okay Yumi, tell me what happened." Yoshino said trying to calm her friend down. Yumi looked up at her friend and nodded.

"The other day I was at the coffee shop and Sei saw me, we started talking and she mentioned that she was back in Tokyo to stay, but she didn't have a place to live, so I offered to let her share my apartment since I have an extra room. After she moved in we started getting closer, she'd cook dinner and breakfast. That surprised me the most, and then one night she asked me to go out with her, so we went out to dinner and karaoke. All I could think about that night was how nice it was being with her. When we got back to the apartment, it was kind of awkward because neither of us knew what to do at that moment, and after a couple of minutes of standing there, and then I kissed her…"

Yumi stopped her story there to see how her best friend was reacting so far. She looked up to see Yoshino looking like a deer caught in headlights, and a grin to top it all off.

"Yoshino… Yoshino, stop grinning like that you're scaring me." Yumi said.

"Sorry Yumi, but you can't tell me you finally made a move on Sei, who you've had a crush on since school, and not expect me to grin like an idiot." Yoshino said chuckling. "This is huge news Yumi you and Satou Sei are officially a couple now."

"Wait Yoshino, we're not a couple." Yumi said looking down at her lap.

"What do you mean you're not a couple?" Yoshino said in disbelief.

"Well… we haven't really talked that much about being in a relationship yet." Yumi said shyly.

"Do you want to be in a relationship with her Yumi?" Yoshino asked her best friend.

Yumi looked up at Yoshino and nodded her head yes. "I really like her, and I think it would be nice if we did give it a chance."

Yoshino smiled. "Then when you get home, talk to her about it. I think it would be great if you two got together."

"Thank s Yoshino." Yumi said as she hugged her best friend.

"No problem."

~0~

Sei was sitting on the couch in her best friend's house, practically fidgeting with her hands, as she tried to find a way to explain why she needed to talk to her.

"Sei, what's going on with you? I've never seen you so nervous before." Her friend said handing Sei a cup of tea.

"Sorry Yoko, I didn't mean to worry you. The fact is though I am pretty nervous about something." Sei said taking a drink from her cup.

"So, what's going on?" Yoko asked.

"Well, I moved back a few days ago as you already know, and I didn't have a place to stay and I coincidentally saw Yumi in the coffee shop. We started talking and she offered to let me stay at her place since she had an extra room."

"That was nice of her, I still don't see why you're so nervous though Sei." Yoko said.

"You know, it's not nice to interrupt Yoko." Sei teased her friend before continuing.

"As a thank you I took her out on a date, and it went really well. When we got back home, Yumi kissed me." Sei explained.

Yoko looked stunned. "Wow… who knew Yumi was so bold."

"Yeah I know. I really liked it too, it felt right somehow." Sei said putting her cup down on the table. "I think I may be falling for her Yoko, I've never felt this way before, I like it and at the same time it scares me."

"Well, do you want her to be your girlfriend?" Yoko asked.

"I do, but we haven't exactly talked about going that far yet.

Sei could hear Yoko giggling at her remark. "Thanks Yoko, I spill my heart out to you and you giggle." Sei said dramatically.

"Sorry Sei, but when are you the one who lets things get in the way of what you want?" Yoko said smiling. "Maybe it's time you and Yumi sit down and talk about being in a relationship, maybe she wants to take that next step too."

Sei thought about it, and chuckled. "Yeah you're probably right Yoko."

"Of course I am." Yoko smiled.

"Alright, I'll get out of your hair now. But remind me later, to set you up with someone, it's about time you gave a relationship a try." Sei teased.

"Whatever Sei, see you later."

"Bye."

~0~

When Yumi got back to the apartment she saw Sei sitting on the couch flipping through channels on the T.V.

"Hey Yumi, how's Yoshino?" Sei said smiling.

"She's doing well, her and Rei say hi." Yumi said sitting down next to Sei.

"Sei, can we talk about something?" Yumi asked shyly.

"Yeah sure, there's something I want to talk to you about too." Sei said shifting so she was looking at Yumi directly.

"Oh, well you can go first."

"Are you sure?" Sei asked, and Yumi nodded.

"Okay, well I've been thinking about this since the other night, and well I really like you Yumi, and that kiss was just amazing." Sei said pausing a little to work up some more courage. "So… I was wondering… if you would consider being my girlfriend." Sei said looking Yumi in the eye.

Yumi felt her chest tightened slightly, and her heart was beating very fast. She could feel a smile coming to her face and she didn't want this feeling to go away. Instead of giving Sei a direct answer, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against the blondes causing Sei fall backwards on the couch with Yumi on top of her. Sei moaned into the kiss as it deepened, then she pulled away slightly and smiled.

"Is that a yes Yumi?" Sei asked grinning.

Yumi giggled slightly. "Yes Sei I would love to be your girlfriend."

Sei closed the gap again and they kissed passionately.

**A/N: There you have it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I was wondering if you all had any ideas on who Yoko should be paired with if I decide to go that route, or if I should create a character for her. Ideas are always welcomed. **

**Don't forget R&R please! **


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